A British honorary consul in Jamaica who was strangled inside his home in a possible homophobic attack was likely to have known his killer, police on the Caribbean island said yesterday.

The body of John Terry, 65, was discovered by his gardener wrapped in a sheet in a bedroom at his home near St James, on the north-west coast of the island and near Montego Bay, Jamaica's second biggest city and a major tourist destination. The New Zealand-born father of two had lived in Jamaica for more than 40 years.

Results of a postmortem examination showed that Mr Terry had been strangled with a ligature and also suffered head injuries, the Jamaica constabulary force said. Reports at the time Mr Terry's body was found, on Wednesday afternoon, said he was throttled with a piece of cloth and that he had been beaten with a blunt object, possibly a table lamp.

While police have yet to name a suspect or publicly identify a motive, some reports said a note found near Mr Terry's body referred to him as a "batty man", homophobic slang for a homosexual man. Homophobia is rife on the island and attacks on gay men and lesbians are common, according to human rights groups. Police confirmed the existence of a note but declined to discuss its content.

Mr Terry, who reportedly separated from his wife three years ago, had spent decades working in Jamaica's tourism industry and was made an MBE in 1992. At the time of his death he was the maintenance manager for a tourist hotel in Montego Bay.

He had been the British honorary consul for the west of Jamaica for 13 years, a voluntary post assisting Britons in difficulty and acting as a link with local communities.

Detectives believe Mr Terry was likely to have known his killer as there were no signs of a break-in at his house. Some items, among them a mobile phone, had been taken, but it is thought this could have been an attempt to make the incident look like a robbery gone wrong.

"There are no new developments up to this time but we believe, however, that the person who murdered Mr Terry was close to him," Detective Superintendent Michael Garrick told the Jamaica Gleaner newspaper.

Neighbours said a young man seen leaving Mr Terry's house late on Tuesday had asked how he could get transport to the centre of Montego Bay.

Karl Angell, a spokesman for the police, said he could not comment on this or the possible homophobic motive. "The investigators are still doing their work. For now we have nothing more to say," he said.

The Foreign Office said it was not aware of a reason for the attack. "Our sympathy is with the family at this difficult time," a statement said. "Jamaican police are investigating the circumstances of his death and we're in close touch with them."

The foreign secretary, David Miliband, said Mr Terry would "greatly missed". He said: "Honorary consuls like John play a valuable role in our work overseas and this was especially true of John, who helped many, many British visitors to Jamaica over the years."

Several voluntary groups paid tribute to Mr Terry for his charitable work.

Jamaica's murder rate is one of the world's highest. Gay people on the island, where male homosexual acts remain a criminal offence, say they are regularly targeted for abuse or violence, and tourists can sometimes be targeted. In 2006, two US television producers were beaten with tyre irons by a homophobic mob.